Saturday, March 11, 2006

I Knit and I Vote

There never will be complete equality until womenthemselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.-Susan B. Anthony

I do not believe that women are better than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislature, nor done many unholy things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance. -Jane Addams, 1931 Nobel Peace Prize recipient

I knit and I vote. So what is it that has my ire? Sknitty and Knit'n Lit Jenn pointed me in the directin of this article by the political director of NOW (National Organization for Women):

Why Not Take Up Knitting? Looking Ahead to the 2006 Elections

By Linda Berg, Political Director

Are you tired of complaining about corrupt, unprincipled members of Congress? Do you cringe every time you hear George W. Bush or Dick Cheney's voice on the radio? Have you taken a new interest in the crossword puzzle since the front page news seems to deteriorate daily? With George Bush in the White House, Congress controlled by the right wing, and the Supreme Court possibly lost for a generation, why not take up knitting?

Do I somehow lose the ability to stay abreast of current events because I'm knitting as I'm reading my newspaper and listening to NPR? I don't think so. I'd argue quite the opposite: That knitting - as both a creative, expressive act and as a communal activity - actually increases my social capital. It makes me more - not less - involved in my community, a community that is local, national, virtual, and global. It gives me a community that spans lines of class, race, national origin, education, religion, and fiber preferences. I'm not knitting to avoid the political-social-economic realities of my day. I'm knitting to engage them. If the assertion of the 20th c. feminist movement is correct - that the personal is political - then I'm knitting as a political act, as a statement as to the worth of the human person and the work one woman can create with her hands. And if feminism, that radical notion that women are as equal as men, is about choice, then I choose to knit. Because I like it.

The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own. There is no other way. -Betty Freidan, 20th c.

And for the extended entry (except that I can't do that in Blogger):

A historical note to read if you're interested in some great links, and because I've been reading a lot of 19th c. American history this semester:The American women's suffrage movement spent a lot of time claiming that granting women the franchise would fundamentally change politics, make it cleaner and more genteel and a better forum for reforming the vices of a degraded industrial capitalist society. (And their opponents agreed, and thus opposed them.) Time and time again, first in the Western states, then on a national level, this proved not to be the case. (Especially interesting in then-polygamous Utah which granted female suffrage in the 1870s.) Women vote, it turns out, just like men. (In fact, for several reasons, they vote more than men.) Women tend to vote not as bloc of women voters, but as church-goers, Southerners, African-Americans, liberal-listeners-of-NPR, environmentalists, and especially, given the feminization of poverty, wage earners.

I resent the assertion that only women should be concerned for women's rights or "women's issues." If women as workers brings down the average wage to below a living wage, it lowers the average wage for men as well. This was as true in 1836 when the seamstresses went on strike as it is today. Reproductive issues - in the absence of ground-breaking new modes of conception I have not yet heard of - clearly involve men as well as women. Women serving in the military and whether they serve in combat or non-combat roles and their safety in military institutions - clearly, these are not simply women's issues. Even something as apparently self-evident as the Equal Rights Amendment was opposed by feminists who contended that it would subject women to the draft.

16 Comments:

What the heck is that supposed to mean? I knit and therefore I've magically been transformed into a Stepford Wife? I can no longer form opinions? Because I knit?? WTH? What a terrible misognynistic thing to say.

I'm sorry dearie, but my brain just can't understand these complicated political thingies you're talking about. I don't understand why a nice knitter like you wants to get all involved in these complicated issues. I think I'm more cut out for arts and crafts, myself, and I'll leave this thinking thing to the menfolk -- I'd advise you to do the same and get back to your sock darning.

Very well said - that was a joy to read. Oh shoot- I just read Rachel's comment. He!

Anywho, at my heart I have never considered myself a "feminist". I consider myself a human. Of course I agree women should have equal rights. But separating everything into "women's issues", especially by left-wing groups like NOW, serves to forward the perception that women are in a different and separate group. We are not. We can do anything a man can do.

These thoughts were percolating in the back of my head since yesterday. But your post so eloquently and clearly described this aspect of the issues much better than anything I had been thinking!

Terri, I find it amusing that "feminist" has become almost a four letter word. It has turned into a generational thing. "When I was your age..." few women had the opportunities and choices that you now enjoy and can take for granted, this is a great thing. Now all the old "feminists" are dying. I figure the next generation will re-discover the word and again, it will be a badge of honor/rallying cry and not just an antiquated, outdated, and"negative" term. It will be interesting to see. Reading Citizen Girl--lots about women's rights and young women today--food for my thoughts. Love, Aunt Carol

Why am I not surprised you've once again contributed to broadening my horizons. I googled some of the stuff and read about the inception of the NAACP. I learned something today - just like you said, 25 is not too late. I'm gonna miss having you around. You're so educational. For other reasons too though :)